‘Drunk’ couple get back daughter ten days after neglect arrest in Portugal

A British couple who were arrested after Portuguese police claimed to have found their toddler playing by a busy road have been reunited with the two-year-old and said that the accusations against them were lies.

Colette McPartland and Stephen Street said that the accusations against them were lies (Photo: ITV)

Colette McPartland and Stephen Street were arrested after they allegedly allowed Scarlett to play by a busy road while they drank at a bar in the Portuguese village of Carcavelos, near Lisbon.

The couple, who are teachers in the country, were said to be staggering around and could not remember their daughter’s name when questioned.

But they insisted the accusations were lies and, after ten days, were reunited with the toddler.

‘Those days were the hardest in my life and it’s such a relief to have her back,’ Ms McPartland told ITV’s Daybreak.

‘I drank two glasses of wine as I’m four months pregnant and the doctor said it was no risk to my baby.

‘We don’t know why the police got involved. There were lots of children running around. She was never far away from us and she was never near a busy road.’

The Middlesbrough couple, who moved to Portugal in 2007, are considering leaving the country.

Ms McPartland, 38, added: ‘We were very happy but at the moment I don’t feel safe. I’m scared to leave the house as it could happen again.

‘Everything that has been reported is untrue and we are very shocked and very hurt by all the things that have been said. We still cannot believe it.’

Mr Street, 42, revealed they are yet to receive an apology.

‘It’s not a nice feeling to know your children could be kidnapped by armed people. We have been made to feel like bad parents by the media but social services have exonerated us.

‘It should be very interesting for the Portuguese police to hear that as there has been no apology.’